Former Oregon Ducks quarterback Bo Nix had one of the worst games of his NFL career during the Denver Broncos’ 17-14 overtime Week 6 win over the Seattle Seahawks. Nix had another sluggish game against the Seahawks, completing 17 of his 27 passes for a paltry 107 yards, no touchdowns, and no interceptions, while rushing four times for two yards.
After the game, former NFL scout John Middlekauff pulled no punches in his assessment of Nix’s performance.
Ex-NFL Scout Shreds Bo Nix After Week 6 Performance
During this week’s segment of the “3 and Out” podcast, Middlekauff largely shifted the blame away from Sean Payton and Davis Webb, instead focusing on Nix’s decision-making.
“I can never unsee that from Bo Nix,”Middlekauff said. “I think he’s a low football IQ player. Most people’s opinion after that game is Sam Darnold sucks. Well, if he is, I don’t know what Bo Nix is. UFL Player? Has he lost his confidence? I watched him last year, and he kinda looked like this too. But to me, what did it were those two plays at the end of the game. When he ran out of bounds and when he threw the ball in that situation when they had a timeout.”
“I can’t even imagine what Sean Payton, who had 15 plus years of a guy you would say is one of the highest football IQ players of all time in Drew Brees to go to this. Davis Webb got absolutely obliterated; everyone took a giant dump on the guy’s career. Maybe it wasn’t his fault. I don’t think Bill Walsh or Vince Lombardi in their prime could do much with that. That was really, really bad.”
Middlekauff further joked that Payton would be best served asking the 66-year-old John Elway to come out of retirement to lead the Broncos’ offense.
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After an impressive second quarter against the Seahawks, the Broncos’ offense stalled in the second half and had six three-and-outs, requiring their defense to generate turnovers and bail them out.
The Broncos finished the game with just 168 total yards, converting three of 14 third-down attempts. On the other hand, the Seahawks will rue their missed chance to win the game after generating 353 total yards of offense but failing to convert their dominance into a routine win.
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With Nix under center, Webb’s unit has earned a PFN’s NFL Offense Impact grade of 70.0 (No. 27 in the NFL).
Webb has been under pressure to bring out the best in Nix and the Broncos’ offense after replacing Joe Lombardi as the team’s offensive coordinator this year. Payton handed play-calling duties to Webb before the season but reassumed them ahead of Week 5 as Denver sought more consistent offensive production.
Through six games this season, Nix has amassed 1,049 passing yards on 60.3% completion, six touchdowns, and three interceptions for the Broncos, earning a PFN’s NFL QB Impact grade of 66.5 (No. 29 in the league).
This article originally appeared on Pro Football Network.